Who retires early from the NHS because of ill health and what does it cost? A national cross sectional study

About one million people are employed by the NHS in England and Wales, 96% of whom belong to the NHS occupational pension scheme.1 The scheme allows early retirement because of ill health for employees “incapable of discharging efficiently the duties of their employment by reasons of permanent ill-health or infirmity of mind or body.” There is no requirement for the employer to attempt to offer a more suitable job. This study estimates the magnitude of the problem in terms of annual rates of retirement because of ill health, the direct cost to the NHS Pensions Agency, and whether this ill health is caused by work. We examined retirement forms for the first 2000 of 5469 applicants from England and Wales who were granted retirement during 1998-9 because of ill health.1 Complete data were obtained on 1994 of them. Their mean age was 51.6 years (SD 7.4 years) and 72% were female. The commonest reasons for retirement because of ill health were musculoskeletal (49%), psychiatric (20%), and cardiovascular conditions (11%). …